The Scuttlebutt from Queen's Park- November 6th 2013

It has been a sad state of affairs lately given the endless political shambles of a few Senators, Premiers and Mayors. Their respective failings and falsehoods underscore why our democracy is in the shape it is currently in.

However, I have remained busy and thought you might find some of my recent activity both important and interesting.

RECALL LEGISLATION

On October 30th, I introduced a bill that would allow voters to recall their Member of Provincial Parliament and hold them to account. While I expected many of my supporters and constituents to be very interested in this Legislation, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of media attention it received. Even CBC Radio contacted me and asked if I would be interested in doing a thirty minute panel discussion on this Bill. You can listen to that interview here, as well as my interview on CFRA here and an article in the Ottawa Citizen here.

OTHER BUSINESS

The priority I have set for most of my legislative agenda this session has been to ensure that the Legislature better respect taxpayers and also allowing voters to be more influential in politics. Over the past few weeks, I tabled bills that would limit the use ofprorogation, expand the use of jury trials and overhaul our ability to investigate government ministries and agencies through the use of grand juries.

I was also very pleased that The Canadian Parliamentary Review decided to showcase the reforms to the Legislature I proposed early this year in their most recent volume.

The Ottawa Citizen's new Queen's Park reporter Matthew Pearson made the trek out to my hometown of Perth a few weeks back to talk to me about the various issues that I go to bat for my constituents over. You can read his article here.

As I am always introducing new petitions and surveys to help you get more involved in the Legislative process, make sure you check out my website regularly or like myfacebook page to receive my latest updates.

I am looking forward to being home for Remembrance Day and seeing many of you at the ceremonies honouring our veterans and remembering those who sacrificed their lives on the altar of freedom. The Legislature recesses for the week, so I will be in the riding visiting and working with the people I am so proud to represent.